Mark Griffin

3 Oct 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the letter of 20 June 2019 from the Minster for Business Fair Work and Skills to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions regarding the devolution of Specialised Employment Support.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The document has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre, Bib No. 61150.

3 Oct 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many Fair Start Scotland participants there are in each local authority area, broken down by health condition.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: I refer the Member to the answer to question S5W-25652 on 30 October 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusine…

3 Oct 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what stakeholder engagement it has carried out regarding its replacement of the DWP Specialised Employment Support schemes, and with which organisations.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: In developing a replacement service for DWP’s Specialist Employability Support, we have engaged with a number of stakeholders in order to inform how the replacement service might better meet the needs of disabled people in Scotland. This has included holding…

3 Oct 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress with its replacement of the DWP Specialised Employment Support schemes, and when the delivery of this will commence.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The Scottish Government remains committed to ensuring that everybody who can and wants to work has the opportunity to find fulfilling and sustainable employment, and that those facing barriers to employment, including many disabled people, can access any addi…

3 Oct 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many Fair Start Scotland participants in each local authority area have achieved a (a) 13- and (b) 26-week job outcome, broken down by health condition.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: I refer the Member to the answer to question S5W-25652 on 30 October 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusine…

3 Oct 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many Fair Start Scotland participants in each local authority area have reported deafness or partial hearing loss.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The Scottish Government has recently published data broken down by health condition and local authority area. The data can be found in the supporting files section of the latest publication (August 2019) of 'Scotland's devolved employment services: statistica…

3 Oct 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many Fair Start Scotland participants in each local authority area who reported deafness or partial hearing loss achieved a (a) 13- and (b) 26-week job outcome.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: I refer the Member to the answer to question S5W-25652 on 30 October 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusine…

2 Oct 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it supports the participation in cultural and tourism-related activities of disabled people and people with long-term health conditions.

1 Oct 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether a parent will have to reapply for the Scottish Child Payment in 2022-23 in the event that their child, for which the parent received the under-sixes payment of the Scottish Child Payment, reaches the age of six before 2022-23.  

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Given the speed at which the Scottish Child Payment is being rolled out, policy and delivery development to date has primarily focussed on the early payments for children aged under 6 which will begin before Christmas 2020. Across social security, we are com…

1 Oct 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether a payment of the Scottish Child Payment for children under the age of six will continue to be paid in the event of a child reaching the age of six during (a) 2020-21 and (b) 2021-22.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: When the Scottish Child Payment was launched, it was made clear that while the payment would be fully introduced by the end of 2022, early payments would be made for children under 6. In order to introduce this payment early, and significantly ahead of schedu…

27 Sep 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what evidence Social Security Scotland provided to Audit Scotland to determine whether Carer's Allowance spending under agency arrangements was in line with the relevant legislation.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Agency Agreement sets out the principles for audit and refers to the jointly agreed document; Scottish Devolution: A Framework for Audit and Accountability which was published on 8 March 2019. Social Security Scotland worked closely with Audit Scotland du…

27 Sep 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has asked Audit Scotland to correct exhibit 2 in its paper, Social Security Scotland annual audit report 2018/19, which states that the Scottish Child Payment will be delivered at the end of 2022.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Exhibit 2 correctly states that eligible families with children under 16 will receive their payments by the end of 2022, which reflects the timeline announced by the First Minister for the Scottish Government in its Programme for Government 2019-2020. The doc…

25 Sep 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-25345 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 25 September 2019, what the mean (a) full-time equivalent and (b) day-rate salary is for contingent workers in each division of the Social Security Directorate.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Social Security Directorate, along with the wider Scottish Government, publishes contract awards for contingent works at www.publiccontractscotland.gov.uk , including award value, duration and numbers of workers. We are unable to provide more detailed …

25 Sep 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Cabinet Secretary for Social Security and Older People's letter of 8 August 2019 to the Social Security Committee, which stated that "the Scottish Government worked directly with people in receipt of Universal Credit (UC) in Scotland as we developed the UC Scottish choic…

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: This work was carried out jointly by the Scottish Government and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). It is part of the DWP’s standard practice when making changes or adjustments to the Universal Credit system to employ user research findings to design…

25 Sep 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government on what date it supplied the social security uprating analytical report to the Scottish Commission on Social Security.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The social security uprating analytical report was supplied to the Scottish Commission on Social Security on 2 September 2019.

18 Sep 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the paper that was considered by the Social Security Scotland Executive Advisory Body on 5 March 2019, which stated that the Scottish Fiscal Commission (SFC) would update its "Best Start Grant forecasts for publication at the end of May 2019. If the new SFC forecasts differ f…

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The latest Scottish Fiscal Commission forecasts for Best Start Grant were published in May 2019, increasing their 2019-20 forecasts from £12m to £21m. The forecasts from the Scottish Fiscal Commission were then used by Scottish Government and Social Security…

16 Sep 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it spends on the young carer grant, from development and conception to delivery.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Young Carer Grant forms part of Wave One social security delivery. Information on the cost of delivering Social Security will be set out in the Programme Business Case, which will be published around the time of the Scottish Budget. For anticipated benefit e…

16 Sep 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) mean, (b) median and (c) (i) lower and (ii) upper (A) full-time equivalent and (B) day-rate salary is for contingent workers in each division of the Social Security Directorate, also broken down by how many are paid a day-rate of (1) less than £250, (2) £250 to £499, (3) £50…

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. [In case further information is helpful, please see the following sources of published information on Social Security and Scottish Government workforce: https://www.gov.scot/publicat…

16 Sep 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) headcount and (b) full-time equivalent figure is for contingent workers in each division of the Social Security Directorate, also broken down by the number of quarters that they have been in post.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: There are currently 172 contingent works across each division of the Social Security Directorate. Each contingent worker is appointed on a full-time basis so headcount is directly comparable to FTE. The following table breaks this down by Division and number …

9 Sep 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-22957 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 14 May 2019, what reasons were given for the absences, broken down by the percentage for each reason category.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The following table provides a breakdown of the reasons given for short term absences, broken down by number of spells and the percentage for each reason category, within the Programme Management and Delivery Division from April 2018 to March 2019. Programme…

9 Sep 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what proportion of (i) its and (ii) the Social Security Directorate staff recorded (A) short- and (B) long-term absences in each (1) quarter and (2) year since 2016.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The following tables provides (a) how many and (b) what proportion of (i) its and (ii) the Social Security Directorate staff recorded (A) short- and (B) long-term absences in each (1) quarter and (2) year since 2016, broken down by the number of days lost (1)…

9 Sep 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-22957 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 14 May 2019, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of the Social Security Programme Management and Delivery Division staff recorded (i) short- and (ii) long-term absences in each (A) quarter and (B) year since 2016…

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The following table provides (a) how many and (b) what proportion of the Social Security Programme Management and Delivery Division staff recorded (i) short- and (ii) long-term absences in each (A) quarter and (B) year since 2016, broken down by the number of…

9 Sep 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many Social Security Programme Management and Delivery Division staff there were in 2018-19.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The following table provides the number of directly employed staff in the Social Security Programme Management and Delivery Division in 2018-19. Headcount of directly employed staff in Programme Management and Delivery Division Snapshot date (end of the mon…

5 Sep 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people it estimates have applied for the Best Start Grant (a) baby and pregnancy, (b) early years and (c) school age payments compared with (i) those who are eligible and (ii) Scottish Fiscal Commission forecasts.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Information about the number of applications received, and authorised as eligible for payment, for Best Start Grant by payment type up to the end of June 2019 is available at: https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Social-Welfare/SocialSecurityforSco…

4 Sep 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what period an award of the Scottish Child Payment will be made.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Continued policy and delivery development is being undertaken on the Scottish Child Payment, including our intended approach to assessment periods. This will be set out in regulations, and these will be submitted to the Scottish Commission on Social Security …

4 Sep 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it will continuously verify entitlement to the Scottish Child Payment on an ongoing basis, and how frequently it will do so.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: As set out in the Ministerial statement on the Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan on 29 June, further work has been required to assess certain policy and delivery implications of the Scottish Child Payment. As part of this work, we are considering a range …

4 Sep 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether an entitlement to the Scottish Child Payment will cease when a child reaches their 16th birthday.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: As set out in the Scottish Child Payment policy position paper, once fully rolled out (by the end of 2022) eligibility for the Scottish Child Payment will be on the basis of children aged under the age of 16.

4 Sep 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the comments in its Scottish Child Payment position paper, that “having to build interfaces with the suite of legacy benefits […] was deemed to be too technically complex, time-consuming and not cost-effective”, whether it will provide more details of the (a) technical, (b) …

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: In introducing the Scottish Child Payment the Scottish Government prioritised the delivery route which would deliver the benefit to the quickest timescales and with the least impact on the remaining devolved benefits. The option of an automated delivery model…

4 Sep 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many additional staff Social Security Scotland expects to recruit in (a) total and (b) each band to support the delivery of the Scottish Child Payment, and what it estimates the overall cost of these additional staff will be.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The number of staff and grades required to support the delivery of Scottish Child Payment will depend upon an assessment of the impact of delivery of Scottish Child Payment, including staff resources. We will provide an update once the assessment has been com…

4 Sep 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Scottish Child Payment will be uprated, and, if so, what measure of inflation it will use.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Government has given a commitment to uprate the Scottish Child Payment with inflation to ensure that its value always keeps up with rising prices, and provisions will be made for this in regulations. On 2 September, we published a Policy Paper a…